Nothing Inside
by blackjeans101
Summary: There's nothing for you, Bella. Don't you understand? I made you this way. I made you into a monster..a monster.." My fingers brushed against the tiny bumps on my neck, my protest dying in my throat. Because it was true. I was a monster. A vampire.


Disclaimer: Twilight does not belong to me.

Chapter 1: 

Cruel Temptation

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

I leaned against the wall, a smile creeping up my face. Jane Austen. Everyone had to love her, with her witty irony and fiery yet subtle demand for women's place in society. I had just finished my visit with Jessica, who had a very small car accident. She wasn't hurt, only shocked. As I was waiting for the elevator, I had whipped out my book, Pride and Prejudice.

_Ding_

I barely lifted my head as the elevator's doors slid open. Tucking the book under my arm, I stepped in and was about to open my book again when I heard a loud sigh.

I looked up abruptly, expecting to see some sickly patient in a wheelchair. Instead, my mouth fell into a small gape, wondering if my brain was firing up strange imaginations.

A teenage boy was standing to the opposite wall from me, his lips in a slight snarl. Except that wasn't the surprising part. His skin was deathly pale, but looked perfect on him. Most people with pale skin looked sickly, but he looked like a gorgeous marble statue in it. My eyes traveled from his eyes to his hair. They looked very messy, as if he had just woken from sleep, but it was a perfect kind of messy. In his narrow face, a set of blazing coal black eyes, and for a second, they flickered to my direction and stared back at me. My heart raced at those sudden eyes, that looked so dangerous and yet beckoned to me.

_Clunk_

The elevator wobbled for a few seconds, and came to a complete stop. I snapped my book shut, becoming uneasy. For some reason, I did not feel comfortable being in this tiny space with a person who was glaring at me as if I was a bug.

"Um… I think the elevator stopped."

He scowled, and breathed in slowly, his hands pushing against the wall slightly. His fingers curled into tight fists, his white knuckles almost glowing from the effort. I swallowed slowly, and was about to reach for the telephone above the number pad. However, the stranger got it first, his arm extending. His nose was flaring, and his body was as far from me as was humanly possible. I grabbed a strand of my hair and sniffed, wondering if I smelled bad. No; I took a shower this morning.

"Hello."

I nearly jumped at his voice. They were soft, musical, yet angry. I could hear the tension behind his voice, and wondered why he was this way. I did nothing to him; was he just mad that the elevator stopped? No, he was glaring at me even before this happened.

"Yes. Just now – thank you."

He hung up and retreated to the corner of the elevator where he went back to glaring at me. Licking my lips, I asked,

"What's going on? I hope they're coming?"

He didn't answer, and I felt like his eyes were boring into my head. Instead, I went to another corner of the elevator and opened my book, grateful that I had brought it along. My eyes kept reading the same word over and over again, much too aware of his stare.

I felt as if a thousand minutes had already gone by. I wanted to ask him when they were coming, but I was annoyed and scared. He looked like a gorgeous murderer. I entertained myself of how many female viewers would swoon if they saw him on the TV screen, reading "Murder of 17 year old girl in elevator, Forks, Washington."

Then – just then – I saw a shadow fall across the page.

Goosebumps ran down my neck as I slowly lifted my head, just to see his perfect face right above me. I stared at him back, wondering what I should do, what I should say. But I didn't have to think about that for long. He sat, right next to me, leaning against the wall.

"They-"

His voice was strained, and he cleared his throat.

"They said that they'll be coming soon."

I nodded, and went back to pretending to read my book.

"My name is Edward Cullen, by the way. We might as well introduce each other, as we find ourselves trapped inside an elevator."

I nodded once again.

"Bella Swan."

There was a brief pause, and he hesitantly gave me a smile. I smiled back immediately, almost as if I was on autopilot. My eyes were drawn to his teeth – so white, so sharp, so… I could not quite put a finger to it. It was almost like alcohol – you knew it was dangerous but you couldn't help but try it. His whole _being _was like that. Even though he was scowling at me the entire time, I had no idea why I was so fascinated by him. A blush ran through my cheeks, embarrassed at my thoughts. Hoping that he wouldn't see, I turned my head away.

Edward Cullen slowly lifted his hands and turned my chin towards him. I could feel my eyes widen as he came closer…

His lips touched mine, gently, but almost pleadingly. I wanted to pull away, but I couldn't… it was like a chain, holding me there… as if I had been rooted to the ground by an eternal force of gravity…

His drew away from me suddenly, almost throwing himself to the opposite wall. His breath came out quickly, in small gasps. I stumbled, falling on my elbows like the klutz that I was. Edward's eyes were wide, and he had a crazed look set on his perfect face.

But I wasn't afraid.

He was from another star, another distant planet that I did not know. He was of a different race than I; a different species, perhaps. For some reason, he didn't seem exactly _human, _or the same as any other boys his age.

I think it was then that I first started to love him.

In a split second – I think it was less than that – Edward was embracing me again, except this time, he was urgent and insistent. I felt myself growing limp to his lips, his icy breath caressing me with an unearthly pleasure that I had never known before. His mouth traveled from my jaws to my neck. He paused, his marble lips pressed against my vein, as if he was feeling the thrum of my blood against my translucent skin.

For a fraction of a millisecond, I think he hesitated. I don't know. I was drifting in a make-believe world, where reality did not matter.

All I could feel was his touch, his kiss, his lips…

Suddenly, he sunk his teeth into my neck, spreading a searing pain throughout my body. My vision began to blur into blackness, and before I lost all sight, the last thing I saw was a face.

That haunted, haunted face.


End file.
